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The Empire Theatre / Empire Palace Theatre, 31 to 35 Sauchiehall Street and West Nile St, Glasgow

Formerly The Choral Hall / The Gaiety Theatre

Glasgow Index

Above - The Glasgow Empire's original Auditorium and Stage - From 'The Playgoer' 1901 - Courtesy Iain Wotherspoon.

The Glasgow Empire Theatre was built on the site of the earlier 1874 Gaiety Theatre which was demolished to make way for the Empire in 1897. There is more on the Gaiety Theatre below.

The Empire Palace Theatre, as it was first known, was designed by the renowned Theatre Architect Frank Matcham on the site of the old Gaiety Theatre at the corner of West Nile Street and Sauchiehall Street. The Theatre opened in 1897 and had a seating capacity of 1,676 with 182 standing.

The Empire closed in 1930 for major alterations when it was enlarged and refurbished and the auditorium was radically altered. The Theatre was also extended to the corner of Renfield Street and its reopening was in 1931.

The Theatre closed at the end of March 1963 and was subsequently demolished.

Right - A Variety programme for the Glasgow Empire for Monday the 17th of September 1928.

The roots of the Empire Theatre start in the 1860s when Charles Bernard leased the old Choral Hall in Sauchiehall Street running it as a variety hall, and added plays and pantomimes. He had started in London and became a burnt-cork singer creating, with Mr Vestris, The Queen`s Minstrels -"The original and legitimate Christy`s Minstrels."

Right - Sketches in The Gaiety - Previous to Reconstruction, January 1896 - From 'Quiz', a periodical popular in Glasgow in the last quarter of the 19th
century - Courtesy Graeme Smith.

Arthur Lloyd is known to have performed at the Choral Hall in December 1871.

Bernard enlarged the hall, adding plays and pantomime, and bought it and the houses in front in 1872 to make way for his new luxurious Gaiety Theatre opening in 1874 with his Queen`s Minstrels.

Designed by architect William MacIlwraith, taking ideas from the Gaiete and the Theatre-Lyrique in Paris, it held 1,400 on three levels, of whom only 22 were standing, and for the stalls and balcony it had newly patented tip-up chairs upholstered in yellow and red satin.

He added musicals, hosted the Doyle Carte and Carl Rosa opera companies; and profitably added leases of theatres in Newcastle and Manchester, but extended too far when starting his own Comic Opera Company and taking the Theatre Royal in Hope Street in 1881. On his bankruptcy different managers reverted to variety theatre and in the 1890s it was bought by Moss Empires

This Gaiety Theatre should not be confused with the Gaiety Theatre in Anderston Cross, Glasgow.

For an image of an original Gaiety Theatre programme for 'Babes in the Woods' click here.

In the winter of 1894/95 unemployment among the working class was high and a severe winter made things worse, causing a huge demand for food and coal for the poor. Relief Funds were started and among those who helped were Moss & Thornton owners of the Gaiety and Scotia Variety Theatres. The North British Daily Mail reports on 12 February 1895 thus:

"W H Howard and Richie Thom, the managers of the Gaiety and Scotia, are opening soup kitchens at both houses with the intention to supply soup and bread to from eight hundred to one thousand poor persons per week. Subscription boxes are to be placed in prominent parts of both houses, and they are confident their patrons will give a liberal response. Councillor Angus Campbell has consented to become treasurer, and the allocation of tickets is to be entrusted to magistrates, councillors, police officials, clergy of all denominations, and other responsible persons. We may mention that the large dressing rooms at both the Scotia and Gaiety will be specially fitted up for these free dinners. Those to whom tickets are given are asked to take cans to hold the soup."

Right - A cartoon from 'Quiz' of Feb 1895 showing the food being served at midday at the Gaiety (Sauchiehall Street) and at the Scotia (Stockwell Street) - Courtesy Graeme Smith.

Above text in quotes - The North British Daily Mail 12th February 1895.

The new owners, Moss Empires, demolished the Gaiety and built the new Glasgow Empire Palace in 1897, as a variety and pantomime house. The word Palace was dropped in the early 1900s.

Left - A 1940s Variety Programme for the Glasgow Empire Theatre.

For another image of an original Empire Palace Theatre programme click here.

It was extended and substantially rebuilt in modern styling in 1931 as the Empire Theatre, and competed strongly with the Alhambra Theatre in attracting stars and bands from America and Europe.

For another image of of the 1930 Empire Palace Theatre auditorium click here.

For more information and images for the Glasgow Empire Theatre you may like to visit Bob Bain's website here...

The above text on the Gaiety and Empire Theatres, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, was written by Graeme Smith and kindly sent in for inclusion on the site in 2009, and is, in part, from his new book 'THE THEATRE ROYAL: Entertaining a Nation', Details here...